


Only For Her

by QueenCarol



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Carzekiel, F/M, Fluffy, carzekiel baby, domestic carzekiel, pregnant Carol Peletier, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 05:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17801618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCarol/pseuds/QueenCarol
Summary: When Valentine’s Day rolls around Ezekiel is taken by surprise and quickly arranged something for his beloved wife, Carol.





	Only For Her

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.
> 
> In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economical/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Original characters are property of the author.

_______

It’s valentine’s day.

He knows this because they recently welcomed to The Kingdom a university teacher who has tracked each and every day since the fall of society to the strandlers. Thanks to him they have drafted a calendar which they’d hung at the community grounds. Children, who were old enough to remember pre-apocalypse times, were excited by the prospect of a celebration and had marked the calendar with a huge red heart. 

He’d been completely oblivious to the date until he had walked by the calendar. His stomach had sunk for he’d wanted to prepare something for Carol, but it was already too late to find anything he’d wanted to give her. Instead, he’d gather what he could find and had disappeared in their bedroom for the rest of the afternoon.

It isn’t anything huge but he hopes it will at least help her feel better.

Hearing her voice coming nearer, he rushes around trying to make the least amount of sound and hissing under his breath when he burns the end of his thumb.

“Have you seen your father?” He hears her ask. She’s no doubt walking Henry to bed, a nightly routine they’ve developed where they talk about their day as they make their home and into bed. 

“Jerry said he was working on something top secret.” He hears his son answer. 

“Hmmm...” he hears Carol hum as their footsteps stop. He knows they are at the end of the hallway, right by the entrance of Henry’s bedroom. “I wonder what trouble he’s getting himself into.”

He hears Henry laugh, a muffled laugh his son is no doubt hiding behind a hand. Henry is in on it, knowing exactly where his father is though the young boy doesn’t know what he’s been doing.

“Alright,” he hears Carol say before there’s a pause in the sounds that filter into their room. He knows, from having observed them while they go through their routine, that Carol is placing a soft kiss on the top of Henry’s head. “Goodnight, have sweet dreams.”

“Night, mom.”

Ezekiel finishes preparing his surprise just in time to hear her heavy steps coming to their door. He positions himself by their bed, a towel hanging from his arm, just as Carol opens the door.

He knows she’s surprised her by the look of shock on her face. One of her hands moves to press against her chest as the other raises to her lips. “What is this?”

Candles flicker all around their room. He’s carefully laid them over furniture, on the floor, on their windows, and near their bed. He’s gathered wild flowers and made a bouquet that lays in the middle of the bed. Besides him, on top of their dresser, lay hot towels he’s painstakingly prepared for this very moment. Besides the hot towels lays a tub of lotion which he fully intends to use. On the pillow he’s laid a rose’s petal and the biggest bar of dark chocolate he’s been able to find.

“Your Valentine’s present.” He finally answers once she’s done looking around. “Happy Valentine’s, beloved.”

Carol gives him a little smile, one that tells him she’s trying to reign in the wave of amusement that has washed over her. Her eyes sparkle, reflecting the light of the candles around them. She’s never looked more beautiful.

She’s also never looked more exhausted.

“Is this the kind of present that men give where it’s not really for the girl but it’s actually for them?” She asks as she closes the door behind her.

“No,” Ezekiel answers truthfully. “This is all for you.”

He extends an arm and offers her his hand which she takes quickly. He guides her to the bed before helping her sit down on the edge. Leaning forward he presses a gentle kiss to the crown of her head before kneeling in front of her. He delivers another kiss to the swell of her belly, smiling when he feels the little kicks their child gives in response.

“Find purchase in Morpheus arms tonight, little Princess.” He mumbles against the clothed swell. “Tonight Mama will rest and unload the burden from her shoulders.”

He still can’t believe how lucky they are to be pregnant with a little girl who continues to defy all odds and grow healthy and strong. In the process of providing for their daughter though, Carol’s body has been driving itself crazy and with the added stress of looking after a pre-teenager and a keeping a whole community on its feet, she’s been more exhausted than ever before. 

That is why he has planned all of this, to give Carol the chance to relax and gather her strength again, to give her a night where she doesn’t have to worry about anything because everything is under control and a night where he will personally tend to her every need.

He starts by unlacing her heavy boots, gently pulling them off her feet before rolling off her socks. Her feet are swollen, the ankle is the worst aggressor. He takes a moment to gently massage the underside of her foot, earning himself a soft moan as the pain she feels slowly ebbs away.

Once he’s done with her feet he moves upward, massaging her calves through the thin jean material. He knows she gets painful cramps from being on her feet too long but he also knows that no amount of begging her to rest will work, she simply has too much to do. Instead of making her mad by pestering her to rest he has switched to massaging the area and hopefully loosen the muscles as he goes.

“Henry knew you were doing this, didn’t he?” She asks, her voice low and soft. She’s starting to get relaxed as his hands inch higher, deeply massaging her muscles as best he can. 

“He may have been in on the execution,” Ezekiel admits to her with a smile. “He wasn’t privy to the specifics.”

“I’m baking him some cookies after this,” Carol says before she lets her head fall backward slightly, her hands pressing against the mattress as she leans her weight back.

At the mention of her cookies Ezekiel’s stomach practically growls. He smirks playfully. “And I? Will I get to try those delicious delicacies?”

Carol opens her right eye in order to give him a teasing look. “Keep this up and you just might.”

He can’t help but blush as he realizes that while he had truly been referring to the cookies she rarely bakes but which are so delicious, his wickedly playful wife has used his words to tease him. “No shenanigans, today is a day of relaxation.”

Carol closes her eye but the smile she’s had on her face doesn’t disappear. 

Once he’s sufficiently pleased with his work on her legs he gently takes them in between his arms and raises them to help her lay back against the mattress. Gently he divests her of her clothes leaving behind a trail of kisses as he uncovers freckled delicate skin, skin that shows the dangers she had survived through, skin he couldn’t get enough of.

“Lay on your side facing the other side.” He requests as he turns towards the pail that holds the warm towels.

Once Carol has done so and he has brought the pail closer, he then switches to massaging her back, sitting beside her on the bed’s edge. He starts at the lower back, kneading the inflamed muscles that have plagued his wife as of late. Carol’s moans grow loader, though this time they have a lace of pain intertwined in them.

“Should I stop? Hurting you is not my intention.”

“If you stop I will make sure you sleep on the sofa for the next month,” Carol replies.

Ezekiel can’t help but chuckle as he continues to massage the area. Carol for her part, curls almost into a fetal position as she pushes her back against his hands. Not wanting to leave the area raw, he switches to massaging her upper back. He knows this would be so much easier if she could lay down flat on her front, but the swell of their child impedes her from doing so. Instead, Ezekiel adapts to her needs as he kneads her shoulders and the base of her neck.

Carol leans her head back as he works on the knotted muscles of her neck. He knows what she is asking for and he gladly gives it to her, threading his fingers into her hair, massaging her scalp. At the beginning of their relationship touching her head could and sometimes would, elicit a negative response as her mind subconsciously remembered her first husband’s hands pulling at her long curls and bringing her pain. Now that her hair has reached her shoulders and she’s used to him bringing her pleasure instead of pain, they’ve found that she likes her hair being touched and she especially likes it when he plays with her hair or massages her scalp.

“That feels heavenly.” She admits.

With her back sufficiently massaged and most of the knotted muscles back to their correct state, Ezekiel reaches into the pail and pulls out a warm blanket. 

“This will be warm.” He warns her as he extends the towels in his hand before gently placing them against her skin. She hums happily, her body sagging against the bed fully.

He covers her whole back with the warm dry towels before leaving her back and switching sides. He takes the bottle of lotion from his bedside table and squirts a bit of it into his hands. 

“Is it cold?” Carol asks. They’d learned very early on that for some reason whenever he applies cold lotion on her belly their daughter gets the hiccups. They aren’t sure why it happens since she’s not having direct contact with the cold substance but he’s learned to avoid the reaction by warming up the lotion.

“No, had it warmed up too.”

“Hmm,” Carol mumbles as he starts working on massaging her belly, letting the lotion get absorbed by her stretched skin. “You are the best husband I could have asked for.”

Pride swells in his chest as he hears her words and he redoubles his efforts to help her feel better. Once her belly is finished he switches to her breasts which he too ladders with the cream. He takes his time, being very careful to not hurt her for he knows that her swollen breasts bring her grief and that even the caress of her own clothes can bring her discomfort. 

When he finishes, he switches the now cold towels for more warm ones then deposits the now empty pail beside the bed. He lays down beside her, his hand unable to stop touching her so he traces a nonsensical path up and down her arm. 

“Feel better?” He asks.

Carol gives him a tiny nod before cracking her eyes open. She still looks tired though not as tired as before and her eyes have regained a little of the sparkle which exhaustion had stolen. “Thank you; for the massage and the flowers and the candles.”

His fingers continue caressing her arm, lowering down until he plays with her fingers. “It wasn’t exactly what I had planned for this joyous night for I wanted to shower you with gifts I know had been kept away from you years past, but the day crept up on me.”

Her eyes lock into his before she tugs him a little bit closer, his head now resting near her, their forehead touching. “This is perfect. I hadn’t realized how much I needed it.”

“King Ezekiel’s Royal Massage Parlor is open for her Majesty whenever she pleases.” He promises with a kiss to the tip of her nose. 

It’s all it takes for her to snuggle herself against him. He knows she’s ready for bed but before they can do so he has to take care of everything in their room. “Hold on.” 

He quickly blows out every candle he’s laid out before taking off the semi-warm towels from her back. He quickly maneuvers the blankets from underneath her, making her giggle, then covers her up. He lets his eyes sweep through the room making sure all candles have been taken care of before undressing and joining her once again in the bed.

Once more Carol snuggles against him, her body turned towards him, part of her belly resting against his flat stomach, her hand finding its place on his chest right over his heart, their legs intertwined and her forehead pressing to the side of his chin. She lets out a content sigh before fully closing her eyes.

“Happy Valentine's, beloved.” He whispers against her forehead.

“Happy Valentines, my love.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did you guys like it? Don’t forget to leave kudos and a comment!


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